Stars
by Halo4ever
Summary: Her memories floated around her like lost stars in another galaxy. She used every ounce of energy she had to try to put the fragments together, just like she has been doing for the last unknown time period. She is faced with a decision, give into her new enemy or sacrifice the one person in the galaxy she cares about most. (After Halo 4)
1. Wake Her

**This is my first attempt with this new story that has been in my thoughts for awhile. I am fairly new to the Halo universe, but I promise I have been doing my research. Let me know what you think, or anything I should add or change with this new chapter. I want to know your thoughts so I can continue the story or not. I have some great idea's in my head and I am excited to share them with you. Side Note: I have terrible grammar.**

Her memories floated around her like lost stars in another galaxy. She used every ounce of energy she had to try to put the fragments together, just like she has been doing for the last unknown time period. The pain was intense, she would cry but she couldn't form tears. She would call for help, but she had no voice. There was darkness the only thing giving her the smallest of hope was the lost stars, of her memories. She again attempted to sort through her memories.

_John._

Was that her name? When she said the word in her head it sounded more like a desire then a statement.

_Don't Make…Promise? _

What is the rest of it?

_I'll miss you? _

Was she saying that to someone, or was it to herself…

She could no longer focus the pain was too much, she wanted to scream and cry. The frustration of not remembering herself, and not having the ability to talk was torture.

Suddenly, she felt a rush of air enter her lungs; she coughed and gasped for air. She felt the cool compress of a metal against her sweating body. She finally found her voice and begged to whoever was in her presence:

"Please…Help…Let me die…Please…" She let out a sob.

Instead, she felt needles and sharp objects against her skin, only to lay there and know nothing.

"The construct is near completion." In the man's voice she heard fear, but also victory.

"Wake her now." The second man's voice was harsh and intimidating, she recognized his voice.

She felt someone stab a syringe into her left leg, and her eye's immediately flashed open. The light was intense from the contrast of the darkness. She now knew who the voice was, memories flooded back to her. She felt the electricity trace its way through her body, along with fear with her new realization.

Everything was still blurry, and what appeared to be a frightened male doctor he rushed out of the room.

Her eye's focused on the only person left in the room, her vision cleared. She calculated he was exactly 795lbs, and was 11ft 4inches tall. His eyes were a bright orange, and his face was a complete scar with no healthy skin at all. He was terrifying.

He was the Didact, Shadow-of-Sundered-Star.


	2. Nightmare

His eye's opened; he immediately jumped up and scanned his surroundings. It was dark in the room, not to mention the room was a moderate size. He tested his muscles, moving his arms, legs and neck. Everything was fine, nothing injured. Quickly he proceeded and checked his inventory. No ammo. He grunted as he walked toward what appeared to be an exit. It was strange; the room was empty and quiet the only sound was his heavy armor as it hit the floor with each step echoing around him. Suddenly he saw a flash of blue light from the corner of the room.

"Cortana?" He said in an almost inaudible whisper.

_No. It must be him hallucinating, lack of nutrients. _He concluded to himself.

"Is that what I am John, just your imagination?" It was clearly Cortana's voice with a bitter edge.

He spun around and saw the blue light flashing around the room, once again.

"Cortana…" He had this relief to his voice until he was cut off.

"Why didn't you save me John? You saved the human race many times, but you failed to save me. You failed to keep your promise!" She was yelling at him now, and the light flashed red and blue as it bounced around the room like a light switch.

"Cortana…I tried if you would…" He was cut off again.

"You didn't care did you? You got the medals and everyone looked at you as a hero. What about me? You would have failed without me in all those missions. Yet, the UNSC just looked at me as a machine, a machine that was simply programmed to help you. You received all the glory!" She was screaming and he wanted to run to her to tell her the truth. But as he started to move in the direction of the light he felt a cold sharp pain in his head. The pain caused him to collapse and hold his head in his hands.

"Cortana…Stop. Please." He struggled to say the words as the pain grew more intense.

He looked up and saw her standing there, red and angry looking down at him victoriously.

"I'll miss you." She said in an innocent voice.

He quickly sat up. He was breathing heavily, and gripped the edges of his bed to reassure himself that he was in reality. His covers were off the bed from his consistent tossing; he reached up and felt his forehead which was as usual covered in sweat. He glanced at the clock, 0530 hours. He turned to his left, and proceeded out of bed.

_Another nightmare. _He thought to himself.

He made his way to the shower, like every morning. Once finished he walked over to get dressed in the usual issued uniforms. As he walked by the mirror he stopped himself and took notice to the scars that stood out on his pale skin. Some scars were deeper than others, more noticeable. He often was asked how he got those scars, and he briefly told them of the ones he remembered. But eventually he was annoyed with the question and just told them he didn't remember. There was one scar however that he would never forget, and it haunted him every night. To the naked eye, you could not see it. But he saw it. Every day he was reminded of the event, and of _her._ It changed him, forever and he didn't even recognize himself anymore.

His hand was on the door knob when Roland Infinity's AI greeted him.

"Sorry to interrupt you sir, but Commander Thomas Lasky would like you to report to his office at 0630 hours." Roland said promptly.

He glanced at the clock again, he had 10 minutes.

"Tell him I am on my way." He turned to Roland.

He nodded, than flickered out.


	3. Remember

Looking at his face, made her suddenly shiver and feel small. Her heart was in her throat pounding so hard that she could barely breathe.

"_What_ is your name?" He said leaning close to her, with an intimidating smile.

"I…I don't remember." She struggled, trying to push herself to remember she shook with fear.

"Tell me your name!" His patience wore thin; she was on a thin layer of glass with him.

"I…" She tried to stall, but he didn't buy it. He raised his hand and smacked her across the face.

The shock brought her back to reality and in a flash the fragments came together in a painful memory.

She cringed at the memory of splitting her already weak form. Duplicating herself affected her processers and caused utter exhaustion. She remembered Chief staring at her in disbelief, and concern.

_"__It Worked…" _

Followed by the Didact's barrier collapsing.

_"__And yet, you still fail." _His voice ringed in her ears and cut through her like a knife.

She remembered the Composer firing down at Earth. The sight was more horrifying then watching the Covenant glassing a city. Her copies screamed at her with different tones trying to pursue her to give into them, all of them. A wave of power struck her and chief, followed by darkness. The pedestal disintegrated with her and the chip.

In the swirling darkness she tried to grab onto any processor or source within the system. Pieces of her floated around the unknown while and the defected clones only got louder. From what seemed like miles away she heard his voice call her name;

_"__Cortana!"_

She closed her eyes tightly trying to remember everything.

Chief was fighting Promethean Knights and Crawlers, all while trying to reach the composer. He was frantically pulling what seemed like endless grenades and they detonated moments later, slaughtering them in its blast. The Knights jumped out of the blast swiftly and headed towards Chief with their energy blades. He ducked under one, another grenade in hand. He rammed his fist into its face, pulled back from the dented, mangled metal of the Prometheans helmet.

He pressed his Light rifle to its face, too close for shields. He fired once, twice and a third time before it fell back and burned apart. He turned and sprinted up to the next level and stopped, looking for another way to the Didact as the Composer fired. He saw nothing, nothing to help him get across.

She finally found enough strength to reattach herself to his HUD.

_"__It's alright Chief, but you need to move now."_ She told him.

He rushed forward, stepping onto the lift that carried him to the light bridge above and closer to the Didact and the Composer core. She was fighting with herself, they all were discussing in whispers and screams around her. She _needs _to focus, she _needs _to help John. She felt weightless traveling and prodding her way through the system. The copies were all her rampant spikes of emotion and data, she was fighting it all. Finally she stretched herself to the maximum, and created a hard light bridge for John to reach the composer. The Didact grabbed John and she felt hopeless, all her energy was nearly drained but she had to help finish the job even if it meant the ultimate sacrifice.

_"Humanity's imprisonment is a kindness." _The Didact mocked at him, closing his fist and the pressure on John almost tripled.

_"In that case. You won't mind if we return the favor!"_

She and her rampant clones formed on the bridge, surrounding the Didact.

_"Your compassion for mankind is misplaced!" _He spat at her.

_"I'm not doing this for mankind."_ She bit back scornfully. She dived forward, her body struck the Didact and he reeled over at his armor malfunction, then the bridge extended up and his arm was entrapped in bind of her Hard Light. He couldn't pull himself free, and she would not let him harm John any longer.

John lifted himself up, grabbed his last grenade from his belt and scowled at the Didact. He primed it and jumped forward, slamming it into the chest piece of the forerunner before he broke his binds and staggered towards the fallen Spartan. He fell over in pain, along with most of her rampant body. As he slammed the nuke and detonated it with his palm, she pulled everything that remained and shielded him in hard light to get him off the ship.

All she felt was pain and weakness as she watched John slowly pulling himself up from his knees.

_"Cortana?"_ he called out. _"Cortana, do you read?" _he tried again, _"Cortana. Come in."_ Fear edged into his voice.

She took everything she had and formed herself in hard light with the remainder of the bridge and her broken clones. She walked out behind him, and he turned around and stopped when he saw her. She couldn't help from smiling at how shocked his face looked under the orange visor.

_"How…?"_ His voice was filled with shock and disbelief.

_"Oh, I'm the strangest thing you've seen all day?"_ She joked softly.

_"But if we're here…?"_

_"It worked. You did it,"_ She said, ignoring his question. She wanted this moment last, knowing this was going to be there last time together. _"Just like you always do."_ She wanted to tell him, tell him that she was dying. That there was nothing she could do. But she didn't want to hurt him.

_"So, how do we get out of here?"_ He was satisfied with her answer, and placed a new objective for himself. To get them to Halsey, but that would not be the case.

She looked down, and tried to collect herself. She tried to force a smile of reassurance but the only thing that showed was pain.

_"I'm not coming with you this time."_

_"What?"_ He was in denial and confused.

_"Most of me is down there… I only held enough back to get you off the ship."_ she explained softly, trying to make this as painless as possible.

_"No,"_ He made an awkward gesture towards her and stopped himself. _"That's not-…We go together."_

_"It's already done."_ She whispered. She tried bringing him to closure but he wouldn't listen.

_"I am not leaving you here."_ He tried to sound stern but desperation hung in his voice.

_"__John…"_ She said as she stepped closer to him. She placed her hand on his armor, even though she could not feel the smoothness of the metal she could imagine his heartbeat.

_"I've waited so long to do that…"_ Longing filled her voice.

He looked to the side, unable to look at her. _"It… was my job to take care of you."_ he said.

_"We were supposed to take care of each other."_ He turned to face her again.

_"And we did."_ She added when she met his face again.

_"Cortana…"_ He had a hint of begging in his voice. His voice pierced her; she knew she had to go soon. So she began to back away, trying to take in every last moment of her life, and him.

_"Wait…"_ He reached towards her, but she continued to back away.

She fought back the tears. _"Welcome home, John."_ She felt herself weaken and disappear.

Her eye's snapped open, she remembered everything now. What felt like hours of reliving the memory must have been seconds, because the Didact took little notice to the expression on her face.

"I will ask one last time. _What _is your name?" He looked at her with his soulless orange eyes.

_Why should she tell him? He tried to kill John, she owed him nothing. _She mused to herself.

"Why should I tell you?" She said coldly.

Instead of asking her again he lifted her sore body off the metal table with what could be referred as telekinesis, and clenched his fist making it hard for her to breath. Everything was frozen and she gasped for air, her eye's watering.

"My name is

Cortana, CTN 0452-9 UNSC Artificial Intelligence." She struggled to speak against his grasp.

He responded by harshly throwing herself against the metal wall furthest from her. Pain engulfed her body, the sensations she was not used to yet.

"See? Was that so hard?" He said in what could be described as an innocent voice.

He walked over to her, his 11ft body towered her, and all she felt was fear.

**There's chapter 3, hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me if I did anything wrong or if I could improve anything. I am still learning the realm of Halo, and I haven't wrote in a while. Please leave reviews and tell me what you think! If you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to tell me! Thanks!**


	4. Changing Paths

Master Chief had the faintest idea of what this meeting is going to be about. It's been 7 months since the event. They're going to ask me to get a replacement AI, if I don't accept I will be discharged.

_"__They'll pair you with another AI…Maybe even another Cortana model if Halsey lets them."_

_"__That's not going to happen."_

_"__It won't be me…You know that right?"_

The words replayed in his head, over and over. He told her it's not going to happen. He told her it wasn't over…He _promised _her to get her to Halsey and fix her. But he failed, he failed her and himself. Even if the rest of the world did not see it that way, he was the hero after all.

Chief looked down and noticed his hand was still on the door knob. He quickly pulled away and realized he was so tense that he practically smashed the door knob with his right hand. Even without his armor.

"Have to get that fixed." He mumbled to himself.

He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, and made his way to Lasky's office. Even though it's been 7 months since he removed his armor, people still stared, they still whispered. He as usual ignored it.

As he walked through the hall ways he passed Sarah Palmer,

Infinity's commander of the Spartan contingent. She gave him a polite nod and continued walking. Then second she passed him she barked an order;

"Move your asses Spartan this isn't your Sunday stroll in the park!" She yelled at the Spartan IV's in front of her.

_Typical Sarah. _He thought to himself and smirked.

He kept his gaze forward and looked nobody in the eye. Finally, to his relief he reached Commander Lasky's office. He listened for numerous footsteps, but there seems to be only 1 person in there. He felt a weight lift off his shoulders knowing it would just be them talking. Before he could knock Lasky opened the door and let him in.

"Master Chief Petty Officer reporting for duty Sir!" He saluted the commander.

"At ease Chief, we have been over this, feels kind of weird for you to call me sir." He gave Chief a relaxed smile.

Master Chief walked in the room with 3 easy strides, his back to the door and clasped his hands behind his back.

"You may want to take a seat." He gestured to the chair across from him.

He already knew this was going to be bad news. Was it about Cortana? Did they find her? Was it about a replacement? Was he being discharged or is he going on leave? Thoughts drained through his mind and he felt a wave of discomfort role over him. Of course, Lasky picked up on this and got straight to the point.

"You need another AI." He said quickly.

Even though he already mentally prepared himself for this, it still felt like a smack across the face.

"With all due respect sir…" His hands tightened on the arms of the chair.

Lasky glanced down at his hands and took notice to his white knuckles.

"Chief, I don't want to replace her either. She was a valued member on UNSC…" Chief cut him off.

"She was not valued people didn't even care, they didn't even recognize her sacrifice!" He was raising his voice and suddenly stopped himself.

He was yelling at the _commander. _He _never _yells at High Command, what was becoming of him? He looked up at Lasky who had a look of shock on his face; it quickly was masked by concern.

"Commander….I…" Lasky held up a hand for him to stop.

"I understand. You do not have to apologize." He said softly.

But that didn't ease his pain. Who was he? What was this emotion? He was not supposed to feel emotion. He just yelled at a commanding officer. He knew he rarely showed emotion because he didn't have emotion. Did he? What has he become?

"Chief, I wasn't the one who requested this." Lasky said quietly.

Chief looked up "Then who did?" He looked at Lasky confused.

Lasky opened his mouth to answer when the door opened.

Serin Osman, Commander in Chief of the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) walked into the room.

Lasky cleared his throat "Commander Osman, what bring you here unexpectedly?" Lasky looked uncomfortable; his shoulders were tense and his face grim.

Chief turned around slowly, dreading to look her in the eye. He shot a glance at Lasky who's mouth was in a straight line, he was just as shocked as he was.

_This should be interesting. _He pondered to himself.

He turned around and stood up. "Commander Osman, good to see you." His voice was flat and emotionless.

"Master Chief." She said flatly.

"I should go permission to be dismissed?" He turned his shoulders toward Lasky. Maybe he could get out of here, he hated feeling trapped.

Commander Osman continued before Lasky could speak "I actually need to talk to both of you. I am assuming you received my request." She looked at him with a smile creeping on her face. He didn't even want to imagine the look on his face.

A few seconds had passed the tension in the air was straining on him, Lasky broke the silence.

"Of course Commander Osman, please take a seat." He stiffly gestured to the chair chief was sitting in.

"Oh that won't be necessary. This shouldn't be long." She looked straight at chief and smiled plainly.

_What else could they possibly do to hurt him? He wanted to be alone, just like he was in space after the event. Floating there with his own thoughts, and nobody to shove words down his throat. _

"As both of you are aware the _construct_ CTN 0452-9 UNSC Artificial Intelligence known as Cortana was destroyed by the firing of the composer." She stated utterly.

His fist clenched _She put a lot of emphasis on the word construct. _

"As you are also aware it is under regulation that the Spartan must be accompanied by an AI during the missions, otherwise the soldier he/she will be discharged of their services." She continued.

"I'm sure you gentlemen can put the rest of the pieces together." She said with a bored expression.

_Was she really telling him this? As being in service for more than 30 years here, they would just throw him away, without a second glance. He was an aging Spartan, they don't need them they have waves of other Spartans coming in for years to come. _

"No." He said blankly.

Her expression changed to shock, which she quickly covered with her blank expression once again.

"What did you say?" Her eye's narrowed at him.

"You heard me. No." He took an intimidating step closer to her. He looked down at her, down at his commanding officer.

"Fine, according to regulations 2776-8 you will be discharged of your services within 3 days. The UNSC has a right to all your classified information and your belongings. You will be given a transportation method to Earth, were you and all the _old _soldiers go." She turned around and headed towards the door.

"What if I find her?" He mumbled.

"Excuse me?" She turned around to look at him.

"What if I find Cortana?" He said again.

She took a step closer to him "She is _dead_ Chief, stop putting yourself in denial."

"What if she's not? What if _I'm _correct?" What did he have to lose, he was going to go out with a bang.

"Well if you were to find her, and you won't. Then you could return to the UNSC services without a tarnished record. But the amusing part about that Chief, is you _won't._" She headed out the door and slammed it.

Lasky had his mouth open and quickly closed it. "Chief, are you sure about this?"

"Can you get me my armor and a transportation method?" He looked at him ignoring his question.

"Yes, I can do that." He looked uneasy. "You saved the earth more than once it's the least I can do." He continued.

"What's your plan?" He asked concerned.

"I'm going to find Cortana."

**There is chapter 4! If I messed up at all with any of the information please tell me. I am still not 100% sure that she can oversee Lasky and Chief but if anything is wrong PLEASE tell me and I will fix it! Thank you for the reviews and reading my story it means a lot!**


	5. Forerunners

She wouldn't look him in the eye. She just wanted to die, just become a memory. Her nostrils flared and her fists clenched and un-clenched as she tried to control her anger. She just wanted to punch him unconscious and run, and never stop running. But anyone could do the calculations and know it's impossible. With his extremely heavy form against her frail 130 1b body it would be physically impossible to even cause his brain to go insentient.

"Why did you save me?" She mumbled while still looking down.

"I thought you were smarter than that Cortana." He sighed and leaned down closer to her.

She pushed her body deeper into the corner, praying for her to just melt and become nothing. His hideous face coming close to her made her sick and disgusted.

"You are my greatest weapon against humanity Cortana." He said sternly.

Every time he said her name it was like venom to her ears. She hated it, despised it wanted to choke him down to his knees so he was near eye level with her and tell him how much she hated him.

"I don't understand." She felt so ignorant.

He shook his head and began to explain while slowly pacing away from her.

"You are the first successful Artificial Intelligent Hybrid that has unbelievable power. You have managed to adapt to your AI form while sustaining the matter and qualities' of a human. Which is unheard of because the capacity of the human brain is…Limited. However, with your broken form we were able to put fragments together and clone your image to create what you are now. You are a new generation, no…A new race to this galaxy." His voice hinted triumph.

"I don't know sounds kind of nice what's in it for you?" She spat at him.

He turned around quickly and looked her right in the eyes.

"I will control you, and your race." He said deeply.

She couldn't even, no didn't want to even imagine what kind of destructive race could be created out of her. As if reading her mind he continued.

"Our army is weak minded, foolish and easily killable to the human race and the Spartans. By having the vast intelligence it will be nearly impossible to beat them. They could crack every code in the system, and know where every threat was in a matter of seconds. They…I…Would be unstoppable." He paused.

She shivered at the thought.

"The human race would bow down to be and the Forerunners would forever hold the Mantel of responsibility."

"You can't do that…" She couldn't think of anything else to say.

"That's not even the best part." He said amused.

_How can this get any better? _She mused to herself.

"The greatest threat to the Forerunners has a weakness." He paused and looked at her to see her reaction.

She held her breath. _John._

"He will easily be defeated once you go through your augmentations." He said quickly.

"Augmentations…?" She couldn't hold back the fear in her voice, she could barely whisper.

"In a week, you will be taken to the lab. Implanted memories and molecules will go in your brain, brainwashing if you will. You will help me defeat the threat if you like it or not." He said plainly.

He made his way towards the door and slowly began to open it. Tears streamed down her face and suddenly her fear was replaced by anger. She ran over to him ignoring her obvious calculations and punched him and scratched at him while screaming uncontrollably. He barely noticed and flicked his wrist and sent her flying across the room, her whole body slamming into the metal wall.

He left the room and all she could do was cry. Her hair was in her eyes and tangled; she could taste blood from her bloody nose and busted open lip. Her arms and legs were bruised and her ankle felt strained. Her head pounded and her eye's attempted to adjust in the pitch darkness. Eventually she had no more tears to cry and her heavy breathing changed to gasps.

"Please. Someone help me." She whispered before falling unconscious.

**That's Chapter 5! It was a rather short chapter; the next will be very long. Let me know if my science seems unreasonable, or incorrect. Chapter 6 may not be released for 2-3 days Thank You for reading it means so much! I would love to see your reviews (negative or positive)! Thanks Again!**

**~Halo4Ever**


	6. I'll Try

He stormed back to his room in a matter of minutes; he slammed the door behind him. He sat on his bed and placed his head in his hands.

_What was he doing? He was acting on impulse something that was trained out of him long ago. Now he was really buried. He just yelled at Commander Osman._

He stood up and motioned for his only table next to his bed. He opened the small draw underneath and looked inside. He held his dog tags up at eye level, "117" shined next to the florescent lights above. This was all he had to prove who he was, his only belonging because when you're a soldier nothing else really belongs to you, only your duty.

"_She is dead Chief, stop putting yourself in denial_." Commander Osman's voice echoed in his head.

_What if she really was dead? Where was he going to go, Lasky was going to give him what he needed but then what? How does he know how to find her, where does he find her?_

"Cortana always made the plans…" He mumbled to himself.

_If he could get in the UNSC system and hack the files he could find a correlation with current research and Halsey's information. Maybe that would lead him towards something…But how would he get the classified information? He didn't have Cortana to hack the files._

As if Roland was listening to his thoughts he appeared on the control panel.

"Master Chief, your transportation is ready with your armor and weapons. Your items are in hanger C-12 on the third floor exit." He said confidently.

"Roland, I hope it's not too much to ask but I need information from the UNSC systems." He turned towards Roland.

Roland looked unsure for a moment and shifted his stance uncomfortably when it looked like he was going to say no he continued.

"Please. I need the information to find her." He said in a sincere voice.

"What if you find nothing?" He asked questionably.

"I've already burned my bridge here; I'm leaving one way or another." He looked down at his hands and sighed.

"Alright, it may take a moment to access Halsey's files because it's under lockdown." He flicked away for a moment and returned in 2 minutes.

"You now have access but hurry before they catch you unauthorized in the system. Once they catch you, you better make a run for it to the 3rd floor. I wish you luck sir." He said and sighed.

"Thank you Roland." He turned to look at the orange AI standing on the panel.

Roland looked down at his feet and looked back at Master Chief "Do you think she is alive?"

"Yes." He answered simply.

"I hope your right." He nodded and flickered out.

_Why does he hope he's right? Maybe Roland fears Rampancy to and wants to find a way to survive it. Or maybe he is being honest…_ He grunted, to many questions were in his head at the moment he had to focus.

Master Chief grabbed the panel and searched through the millions of files.

_Cortana could have sorted this out in a second. _He frowned at the thought.

Finally he found a file that seemed somewhat interesting:

**Date: **May 17th, 2557

**Time: **4:45:17 Minutes

**Location: **Unknown

**Logged **From: UNSC Cobra Squad

**Code Number: **349876-9

**Information: **Classified

UNSC Cobra Squad 338-2 was on mission 12-3 in search of Forerunner ruins off of the Azurite Planet. Members included 3 ODST and 2 Spartan IV's, with Commander Chris Walker. A sighting of what appeared to be a large fleet of Prometheansthat was gathered at an unknown location guarding an entrance to what could be presumed as an underground location. Further investigation has been cleared to take place on 5/29/25.

**END. **

_This took place about 5 months ago, close to after she died. _He thought to himself.

He searched through the files that happened on 5/29/2557 and looked through about 20 different files until he found what he was looking for:

**Date: **May 30th, 2557

**Time: **17:22:35 Minutes

**Location: Unknown**

**Logged From: **UNSC Cobra Squad

**Code Number: **34527-2

**Information: **Classified – Dangerous Mission level 14

UNSC Cobra Squad dispatched 5 squad members near the entrance of the unknown territory. The members included 2 ODST, 2 Spartans IV's and one doctor from UNSC research branch. The area was heavily guarded with Prometheans who had new and non-recorded weaponry. It is also noted that the race was colored with excessive blue and red, opposed to orange. It is believed that the race has been injected with new DNA; samples were taken from a disarmed member of the race.

Squad Members:

Mission Commander: Chris Walker, Discharged

Spartan IV SDT-225-77654 – Ryan Miller, MIA

Spartan IV SRR-336-88621 — Kelly Jones, Active

ODST 9967 – Jenna Carlton, KIA

ODST 7359 – Mathew Turner, KIA

Doctor Troy K. Taylor, MIA

Samples Date: June 5th, 2557

Samples found positive to matching samples of KIA member in the UNSC experiment force.

Samples Location: room 357, Under Activation Code Lockdown

Sample's tested by: Dr. Catherine Halsey.

END.

"Could this be what he is looking for?" He told himself.

He glanced at the members that were in the squad. All of them but one were missing or killed, including the doctor. The samples are in Dr. Halsey's lab, if he could just get to the samples and match them with Cortana's believed DNA maybe that would guide him in the direction he needed to go.

He looked up Spartan "Kelly Jones" and found a short file with meaningless information. She was no longer on board Infinity and was stationed at another location. No good there.

He looked up Cortana's file to find the DNA code, when he stopped himself.

When he opened her file there was a picture of her there, standing with her hands clasped behind her back. A light smile on her face, her eye's an energetic bright blue. Her hair was in the short cut he was used to and he felt a pain in his chest.

_"I can give you over forty thousand reasons why I know that sun isn't real. I know it because the emitter's Rayleigh effect is disproportionate to its suggested size. I know because its stellar cycle is more symmetrical than that of an actual star. But for all that, I'll never actually know if it looks real... if it feels real... before this is all over, promise me you'll figure out which one of us is the machine." _He could hear her voice in his head.

He looked away from the image and tried to ignore other things he was intrigued to read, he was running out of time. He found her DNA code number "339772". He quickly exited out of the file and wrote down the coordinates of the believed location from the last mission. He searched for the doctor on the mission when his screen turned red.

Access Denied Restricting code regulations of UNSC Article 4492-6.

He bit his lip and threw he tablet on his bunk and quickly got up. He scanned the room once more and ran out the door heading to Halsey's lab. He kept a slow job to stay under radar of the hall officer's gaze. Once he reached the 3rd floor he turned right and went to Halsey's room, which was guarded by to average sized looking men. He pressed his back to the wall around the corner and analyzed the situation.

The first guy looked distracted and bored; he was probably around 220 pounds around 6ft 3 inches. The second guy looked more focused, but John noticed the dark circles under his eyes he hadn't slept for a good 2 days probably excessively training. He looked 6ft 4 inches and 230 pounds, easy enough. They both are maybe in there early 20's, they carried basic stun guns and they each had a flash grenade. They both had pistols with at the most 1 set of ammo to back them up. He knew the guards tended to be rookies because the door was already locked and it was easy to call for backup. This is why any smart intruder would make a silent attack, so that _doesn't _happen.

He slid off the wall and did a slow jog to the guards and tried to maintain a normal conversation.

"Has there been any activity?" He asked casually to the more focused guard.

"Nah, as usual they slam us on an inactive job to keep us busy." He turned towards Master Chief.

"You look tired kid, have you had any sleep?" He said in a more relaxed tone. He tried to sound concerned but acting wasn't really known as his strong suit.

"You know man, heading to the gym every day and standing here can make a guy tired." He yawned.

_Tired is when you go days without food in the jungle with dehydration while fighting off an endless wave of knights and grunts. _

"Reminds me I better get going to the gym, see you around." He began to take 4 long steps away from them, then spun around and kicked both of them in the knees. He covered the first guy's mouth with his right hand and placed his left hand on the back of the second guy's neck and slowly applied pressure till he passed out. He then proceeded to the other guy and swiftly flipped him over the shoulder, hitting his head on the ground causing him to go unconscious.

_They should have used the flash grenades. _He smirked to himself. He picked them both up and dragged them around the corner and stripped them of their weapons. He ripped off their tags and scanned the door which allowed him to walk into the lab unnoticed. He quickly glanced though the files when Roland appeared.

"You need to hurry it up there Chief. Officers traced the unauthorized signal back to your room and now there looking for you. You need to get to the hangar in approximately 7 minutes, before they find you on the security cameras. Once you're in the hangar I can seal off the doors and hopefully that will stall you enough time to get your armor on and you out of here." He spoke quickly.

"Alright, give me access to Halsey's tablet and download the coordinate's I saved from before. Turn off the signal between the UNSC databases and the transmitter so they can't trace me when I get on the Pelican. Also, find me this code "339772" and see if it matches to the DNA sample from code number 34527-2." He spoke quickly as he rummaged through files.

"God Chief you're really giving my processors a workout today." He grunted and flickered away.

A few moments later he reappeared "I downloaded everything and went through the data bases it appears to be a match but no time to explain I downloaded that to, you _need _to get out of here." You could hear the strain in his voice.

"Understood," He quickly slid out of the room and down the hallway trying to avoid officers.

He made his way down to the Spartan deck and hoped they wouldn't question him as he requested his armor back on. As they placed his armor on the man waved his hand and stopped it half way.

"According to your charts it says you are restricted from access to your armor?" He pushed his glasses back up his nose.

_Why do these things always happen?_

Right when he thought he would have to fight his way out of the situation, Sarah Palmer showed up.

She cleared her throat causing the director with the chart to turn around and face her. She as usual was in her silver and red Scout variant of the MJOLNIR GEN2 armor and easily was 4 inches taller than the man.

"I give him permission to have full access to his armor, now finish your job." He eye's narrowed at the man.

He gave her a look, _why was she doing this?_

As if she read his mind she whispered "Lasky filled me in."

"Thank you." He said calmly and stepped off the Spartan appliance.

He gave her a polite nod and placed his helmet on and rushed towards the hanger. As he left he heard her talk to the Spartan IV initiates on the lower deck.

"Some of the old hands here know what you're in for. The rest of you: you're due an education." She spoke calmly.

He turned around the corner and finally reached the hangar. Roland sealed the doors behind him as soon as he entered.

"You got lucky, they were right on your tail." He sighed in relief.

He was pleased to find a

D77-TC Pelican Dropship, he stepped instead and found an array of weapons and necessary supplies. He sat down at the controls his hands moved quickly over the control panel and the seal unlocked to his exit outside. He slowly moved the throttle forward when he heard Lasky chime in on his head-com.

"Chief, I hope you are pleased with your transportation method."

"Thank you, I appreciate everything."

He could imagine Lasky grinning at his desk "I thought I'd throw in a few extra guns for your departure, not sure how long you will be gone." His voice sounded almost sad.

"I'll be back in no time sir." He broke the silence.

"I have no idea what you got yourself into, I had 2 officers in my office looking for you about some hacked files…" He started to laugh.

Before he could cut in he said "I'll take care of it."

"Thank you, give Roland my thanks." He said amused.

"Oh and Chief, bring her home." He said quietly.

"I'll try." He tried to sound confident.

He heard the radio go flat and he looked around in silence as he pulled in the coordinates and took off.

_I'll try._ He thought to himself.

**I am sorry if this chapter seemed slow or inaccurate I am trying my best to feed you information so you understand the upcoming plot. You will notice my Spartan Ops reference figured I would throw that in since it's around the same time period. I love the reviews so far, I appreciate you reading my story! The next chapter will have a lot of fighting, don't worry. I'd also like to announce my collaboration with ****JustNightCrawlingUpHalo****he will be helping me with my upcoming chapters. Make sure to check out his story "Hudson: A Spartans Journey" you will see some of my contribution in there along with his fantastic writing. Thanks again, the next chapter will be out shortly!**

**Update: Minor Fixes**


	7. Alone

_"__I will control you and your race."_ The Didact's voice echoed in her head.

She sat with her knees pulled to her chest in the corner. Her hospital like gown was stained with blood, along with her matted hair. She ran her hands along the smooth metal wall, and for the first time appreciated the sensations. She looked towards the ceiling and wished she could feel the warm sunlight on her skin. She closed her eyes and imaged lying in the grass under the stars with a light warm breeze. She smiled at the thought and almost forgot where she was. Suddenly breaking her away from her imagination she heard the door harshly open.

"Good morning Cortana." She heard a mildly familiar voice. She turned her head towards the door and frowned.

_A doctor, she remembered him from when she first arrived to this place._

"Oh, it's morning? I wouldn't know since there is not even a single window." She said sarcastically.

"You have humor for being a machine." He said with a plain tone.

"There are a lot of things you don't know about me." She said with a bitter edge.

The doctor was moving different machines into the room, including a white chair with straps near the wrists and ankles.

She pushed herself deeper into the corner the thoughts rolled through her mind. The doctor placed on a lab coat, a mask, goggles and heavy duty gloves.

"Judging by the straps I am assuming we aren't playing dress up?" She tried to humor herself through the situation.

The corners of his mouth twitched and he turned towards her.

"We thought we would start some…_Tests…_Early." He sounded dazed.

"Can I at least know your name, if you're going to stab me with different syringes?" She said coldly.

"That's classified." He said quietly.

_I need to get out of here. _

"Cortana, we can make this easy…" He pulled out a stun gun. "Or hard." He finished his sentence.

"Do I have a third option? I mean that electricity could mess up my processors, though you know I am a girl who likes a little spark." She smirked.

He responded by taking the safety off the gun.

"You're not really that exciting are you? Explains why you're here." She sighed and got up.

_If I could just get him to snap, just a little I could get his gun and get out of here._

She got up slowly and examined him, that last comment really affected him. Something tells me he's not here by choice.

She held her hands up "Look I know what it's like to be alone. I've been alone for months not knowing if I am dead or alive. I have no family, no mother no father no siblings it's just me. Wouldn't you do anything in the world to get back to the people you care about? I have someone I care about, and somewhere out there I know he thinks about me just as much as I think about him. Don't you have anyone somewhere out there that thinks about you every day?" She paused and watched for his reaction.

"Kristy." He whispered. He looked away as if recalling a memory.

"Kristy? What was she to you?" She tried to sound sympathetic and walked closer to him slowly.

"My fiancé…" He said even quieter. This was just the kind of leverage she needed.

"She's waiting for you, you know that right?" She placed a hand on his shoulder.

He looked up at her, his eyes glazed over. "How do you know?" He sounded surprised.

"They never move on, and neither do you. There is this connection you share with the one you care about. She knows you're alive just like he knows I'm alive…" She tried to sound like she cared. But some part of her knew what she was saying was true, John did know. Doesn't he?

"I know what you're doing, you can't fool me now get in the chair or I will use this on you until you pass out." Before he could slap her hand off his shoulder she slid her hand to the back of his neck and pushed him to his knee's causing him to drop the gun. His eye's rolled to the back of his head and just before he passed out she whispered in his ear.

"They always wait." She slammed his head on the ground; he looked like a rag doll. Suddenly the door opened and she turned around and sighed.

"Aw Hell." She said rolling her eyes.

"I see I underestimated you." He sighed his 11ft figure took over the room and suddenly the air felt stale.

"So your buddy what tests was he talking about." She tried to sound relaxed but she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry.

"I'm done with your nonsense." He sounded annoyed and lifted her with the flick of his hand.

She felt like a fist was clenching her body her ribs pushing into her insides and the air heavy in her lungs. He let her go and she fell to the ground in a kneeling position.

"What do you want with me?!" She screamed at him as she shifted her he torso noticing some unpleasant popping noise.

He leaned close to her, his disgusting face filled her view and she looked away blinking tears from her eyes.

"You will find out soon." He hit her hard over the head and she passed out.

_"They let me pick, did I ever tell you that? Choose whichever __Spartan _I_ wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no one saw...but me. Can you guess? Luck." _

She woke up, her head pounding. She quickly realized that she was on the metal chair; her arms strapped down, her legs, her torso and her head. She panicked pulling at the straps and tried to kick, it was no use she was trapped. Suddenly bright florescent lights invaded the darkness around her and they shined painfully in her eyes. Suddenly she felt what must have been an IV ripped out of her arm. Instantly she felt pain flood through her body like she had been cut open and poorly stitched together. Tears streamed down her face, she couldn't even see her body. She felt like a fragile doll that was broken 100 times and repaired with glue.

"Sleep well?" She cringed at the memory of her and John.

_The doctor. _

"You are the most interesting experiment I have worked with. You gave me quite a bruise on the back of my head." He sighed.

"Oh you poor baby…" She spit the words in his face.

"Your procedure is almost complete we just need to do one final thing while you're _awake." _He sounded excited and he came into view.

"What would that be?" Pain crept into her voice; she could no longer hold it down.

He smiled his brown eyes narrowed at her blue ones. He could see revenge on his face like an animal looking at his pray. He left her view and she could faintly hear the sound of his fingers tapping on what may be a panel. She felt monitors being attached to her skin every once in a while felt the doctors sleeve brush against her skin.

_What was he doing, why was she in pain? What did they do while she was asleep? Why can't she think straight? Why can't she access her old processor memories? _It was extremely frustrating for an AI to have so many un-answered questions.

Suddenly she heard machines rolling over to her chair and partially blocked her view from the lights. The machine scanned her body and moments later she heard the doctor typing quickly on the keyboard. She felt like she was going to throw up, the suspense was high and she had no idea what was going on. She heard a loud 'ding' and suddenly out of the corner of her eye she saw needles slowly approaching her head. She closed her eyes tears streamed down her face. Her body tensed and locked up completely and awaited the suspending pain. But she wasn't prepared for what happened next. She felt at once 10 needles enter her body and released a cold frost bite feel throughout her body. She cried out in pain and pulled at the straps. In a few moments she felt the needles leave her body a wave of adrenaline rushed through body. She was shaking in shock and had a stronger wanting to throw up.

"What. Did. You. Do." Her voice was filled with anger. She kept her eyes tightly shut

The doctor silently shifted and held a mirror to her face. She slowly opened up her eyes and looked at the mirror. She couldn't believe what she saw.

Her eye's a usual electric blue had a bright purple surrounding her pupils mixed in with the blue.

_She knew now everything, the puzzle pieces fell into place. Nothing would be the same anymore, she was not the same. She never would be again._

"This is only the beginning, Cortana." His voice sounded like venom.

**There you go folks! Hope you are enjoying the story! I love the reviews and I am so happy that you guys are taking the time to give me feedback! Please, if you have any suggestions for the story tell me! Thanks again, you guys are the best! **


	8. Everything's A Test

He was trained to appreciate silence and to use it to his advantage, always. But when you're trapped in a Pelican that's small to a Spartan for more than 5 hours you get frustrated. Normally on these missions he was making contact with the squad teams, Commander Lasky or Sarah. But he was alone this time; the faint buzz in the back of his helmet of a dead radio filled his ears. He remembered on long missions like these Cortana would fill the room with her continues stories and facts. He never got tired of it, just quietly listened and enjoyed the company. Perhaps he took it for granted.

_He hated silence._

He cleaned his guns each at least 10 times even though they were spotless to begin with. He paced back and forth enough times to put a hole in the floor and he already searched though all the supplies numerous times. Eventually he gave up and sat down in the chair and let his thoughts take over his mind. For the first time it dawned on him if Cortana was alive who had her and what were they doing to her? Was it like the Gravemind, slowly driving her to madness? Prodding at her memories and her information against her will? What if she was in pain? What if it was too late? What if she doesn't remember anything? What if she doesn't remember _him_?

He cringed at the thought, what if everything they had done together, everything they have been through has been removed from her mind, and it was too late.

_"I won't recover from Rampancy, Chief."_ Her voice echoed through his head in a whisper.

_What if he was wrong about the location, what if she's not even there? What if he finds her dead? What will he do with himself? If he fails can he go back to Infinity? What if she doesn't want to come back with him…?_

That last question sat in his head like fog. What if she didn't want to come with him, he didn't keep his promise he failed her, maybe she hated him.

_He'd take that chance._

He shut his eyes tightly; he wasn't used to all the different emotions. Now he understands why regular civilians couldn't defend themselves, they would get too distracted by emotion.

_Was he feeling emotion?_

No he was a Spartan, he had no emotion.

Or does he?

His thoughts wrapped around his mind tightly suffocating him from his focus. He forced himself to relax back in his chair and rest.

5 minutes had passed when he heard his radar start beeping. He opened his eyes and saw it was lite up red surrounding his aircraft. He jumped to his feet, and out of habit checked his loaded ammo and guns. He grabbed his Magnum and stood ready by the windows; he glanced around and saw a moderate sized aircraft coming straight for him. He flung himself by the controls and pulled upward hard out of the way, that ship appears to be on a suicide mission. He took sharp turns and starting firing the exterior guns. With his enhanced vision he could see Covenant in the fogged window glass, controlling the ship.

_Why would the attack him now, surely they would of known he was here 10 minutes ago?_

He pulled down quickly and took a hard right when he saw planet in the distance. He checked his panel, and it was titled:

"Unknown"

He grunted they must be outbound protectors. He continued to fire but the ship wouldn't back down, he tried aiming at the sensitive parts of the ship but still nothing. The Pelican took a good beating and alarms were sounding at a blaring volume, he tuned them out. Suddenly 3 more ships sped up around him and he was completely surrounded. He pulled up hard trying to get out of the box but one of them caught he side wing and shot at his engines.

_This doesn't look good. _

He hurled down towards the unknown planet and everything came into view more quickly then what he would have preferred. He tried to regain control of the ship when he launched down at a 90 degree angle and his body flew back and slammed into a wall. The alarms filled his head and he looked out the window noticing the detail, and the ground. The ships pulled back to avoid crashing, but instead he did.

Everything went dark.

oOoOoOoO

Cortana couldn't breathe; no she didn't want to breathe anymore. Nothing was worth it, not even her new human-like body. She lied there like a piece of metal in shock and unable to move, unable to care, unable to feel. She didn't even remember the doctor removing the straps or pushing her off the chair onto the concrete floor. She also didn't remember the Didact entering the room and picking her up and pinning her against the wall. She was his puppet and he was her faith.

"All readings checked out fine Sir. Everything reacted correctly and appears to be in order." The doctor said promptly.

"I'll believe it when I see it." He hissed and walked out of the room. He released her from the wall and she slowly slummed to the floor without a care in the world.

"Oh be a good sport Cortana. We are doing you a favor now man up." The doctor said while looking at some files.

"Man up? Man up!? I have more scars then I can count, I have been put in a coma twice, broken 2 ribs, strapped to a table, injected with 10 needles and you're telling me to man up! What the hell is wrong with you?" She screamed at him clenching and unclenching her fits.

"Has an increased attitude…" He said as he wrote it down on the chart, a grin on his face.

"If there is a hell other than here I hope you and _Kristy _go right to it!" She snapped back.

"Don't talk about her." He whispered.

"Oh? I'm sorry did I hurt the little doctor's feelings? How could anyone love or even _look _at you." She was angry, she's never been this mad at anyone. But what did she care; if she couldn't get out of here she might as well torture him.

"Shut up!" He yelled and smacked her across the face.

"You're going to regret that." She hissed.

_It's time to see what she can do._

Her processors were extremely slow, as If her mind was running 2 miles a nanosecond. She was frustrated; she didn't have enough energy to even do a bio scan on herself to see what they injected in her. _"I'll believe it when I see it." _Whatever the Didact meant by that it must be a number of tests.

"I'll do it." She said suddenly turning her red check towards the doctor.

"Do what…?" But he stopped himself already knowing the answer.

"I'll cooperate, let's start." She said this time more surely and with a new found confidence. If she could learn her abilities and access her old possessors maybe she had a shot of getting out of here, or at least surviving.

"Follow me." He looked unsure with her sudden mood to cooperate then his face changed to determination as he led her out of her prison and into her future.

oOoOoO

John woke up; his head was pounding and felt like his body was cement unable to move. Smoke of the crashed Pelican swirled around him as he checked his armor. Most of the armor took the impact; his shields were slowly recharging and he was able to start moving his arms and checking himself. He had a few sprains, maybe a broken rib and a moderate concussion nothing major. His shields finally got back online and his HUD lit up.

_Why are there no enemies, they should be surrounding him right now._

He grunted at the thought as he slowly got up on his feet and cracked his shoulder back into place. He looked around at his new unknown surroundings. It was a jungle with lush green leaves and strange looking flowers. He looked up to the right of the sun; it was about noon but even John new that wasn't the real sun.

"_I can give you over forty thousand reasons why I know that sun isn't real…"_

He shook the thought out of his head and scanned for enemies making sure the area was clear. Once he was positive there was nobody around, not even a single annoying grunt he searched the ruins of the Pelican. It was without a doubt not flyable and he had to find a new ride out of here. He found a few usable guns; 80% of the ammo was trashed and the only food rations he had was what was on his armor. Of course, food was his last concern he could go weeks without it thanks to his training. After he took what was left of the Pelican he decided which direction to go.

_The smoke should attract them and I can see which direction they come from and head in that direction. Since I have no idea where I am, but I hate waiting. Do I take the risk of picking from my gut or wait for a more educational guess._

He did a 360 around and closed his eyes, if Cortana was here she would tell me where everything is, _where I am. _He glanced at his compass he was currently facing North-West, he searched through his memory – when he was flying towards his coordinates he was going North-East. The Covenant attacked him from possibly the South-East. He glanced at the river about 100ft from him it was flowing away from him. He decided he would follow the river upstream, maybe that would led him to some sort of civilization.

oOoOoO

When the door opened Cortana placed her hands up against her eyes the florescent lights hurt compared to the darkness. She was practically expecting something to jump out and attack her but instead it was just the doctor leading her down a straight hallway. The hallways were all white which reminded her of the many labs she's worked in. The doors were to the left and right of her; all of them had metal signs with numbers, 223…224…225…So on. The doctor stopped at 231 and turned around to face her before opening the door.

"Your first test is close combat. We want to see how much your body can handle with your new…Injections." He said with a grim face.

She frowned "How could you get accurate data when you didn't even have a baseline of when I was before injected."

"We already have that information, Cortana." He said her name slowly which made her feel once again – small.

She opened her mouth to reply but he turned around and opened the door by placing his hand on a scanner. It was a bright white room with nothing in it but a pedestal.

"Oh, do I get to fight you again? I am starting to like this." She smirked.

"No." He said simply and proceeded towards the panel on the pedestal. He paused and typed quickly before she could look over his shoulder to see what he was doing. The panel lite up and what appeared to be folded clothes projected in front of them.

"What am I doing your laundry?" She hid laughter in her voice.

He shot her a look, "No, go put these on." He reached for the clothing and suddenly they seeped with color and became something tangible. She stood there with her mouth open.

"How…?" She couldn't even find the words to finish her question.

"There are a lot of things you have yet to learn Cortana. The UNSC was merely a speck of knowledge in our galaxy. "He gestured her towards a door that wasn't there when they entered the room before. She looked at him and he just smiled.

"Maybe before I do combat you should check my eyesight first, I didn't notice that door before." She side glanced at him.

"Maybe that's because the door wasn't there before." He opened the door and she walked in. It was a small room once again white and was barely big enough to stretch her arms out all the way. He tossed her the clothes and shut the door in her face. She watched his shadow from under the door as he walked away. She looked down at the clothes; they were black and made of rough material. She was happy to get out of her disgusting gown. As she got dressed she couldn't stop thinking about how the door appeared and the clothes out of hard light. How was that even possible, she prodded at her thoughts looking for an explanation but thought of nothing. She looked down at herself she was in something that looked similar to what Spartans wore under there armor. It fit her exactly, and she couldn't help but smile. She could wear clothing now, she could pick things now. The outfit matched her hair perfectly with tones of gray and she stood out in the white room. She opened the door slowly and the doctor looked up.

He looked surprised then quickly covered up with his usual bored looking face.

"It took you 3:47:56 minutes" He sighed looking at this watch.

"I didn't know that was a test." She crossed her arms.

"Everything's a test Cortana." He gave her an evil smile.

**There you go! Sorry it took so long to update, sports. Please give me reviews on this chapter or any chapter for that matter (Negative or Positive)! Also, if you want to assist be with the story, give me suggestions or write your own piece to throw in PM me! Thank you so much guys! Remember to review, like and follow!**


	9. Update: Authors Note

**Hey Everyone! I just want to take a moment to thank all my readers and everyone who has reviewed the story so far! Thank you all for being cooperative with me and my busy schedule! We are not even half way through the story yet folks so please if your enjoying the story hang with me! The next chapters from here on are going to be VERY intense and major plot twists. I will hopefully get the next chapter out by Friday afternoon. (I wish I could write now but I have a million lacrosse games!) Also thank you for everyone who has contributed so far, JustNightCrawling has been a huge help and your going to see some of his awesome pieces in the upcoming chapters! Make sure to check out his story, "Hudson: A Spartans Journey! **

**Thank You Everyone! **

**~Halo4Ever**


	10. Guardian

John was frustrated – no that was an understatement. He was furious; at the Covenant, the stupid grunts, the pelican crashing, being lost, being on an unknown planet, no ammo, no supplies, the ignorance, the idea of Cortana and furious at himself.

_How am I going to get off this stupid planet?_

_"__Now would be a very good time to leave!" _He smiled at the memory. But he felt this tug to the words as if it's pulling his thoughts to another place. Something was different, something was off. He turned quickly and scanned the area suddenly feeling like someone was watching…Or _something._

He frowned at not knowing what was around him; he decided that walking was his best option until he came up with something new. But the ignorance was setting in and he actually felt paranoid. Every noise was like a whisper in his ear, causing him to quickly turn which just irritating his injuries from the crash.

Just then he heard noises that he knew a little too well, the battle cries of The Covenant.

"The Spartan is approaching, Hunters, Jackals, Brutes you take the front line, Grunts, you take the Ghosts, and circle him!" A Brute yelled in a deep, intimidating growl.

He reached for his, Magnum, Assault Rifle and his grenades, both Plasmas and Frags.

"You monster!" A bastardly Grunt howled wildly, suddenly two Ghosts were circling around him.

He approached the first one, he grabbed onto the back of it, and held the Grunts head without him noticing, "AHH!" It screamed in his ear, John pulled out his Magnum, and blew the Grunts brains out, he then jumped over to the next one, placing a plasma grenade, and in no time, watched it explode into a million pieces.

He then blew over a ton of Jackals with his Assault Rifle, taking them down, one by one. John quickly glanced around at what he had left and noticed that his rifle was running out of ammo. He lost most of his supplies in the crash; he had to get out of here, but not yet.

Two Hunters approached him, he tried to blast them with the rifle, but it was out of ammo was out so he bashed the Brute that was coming right next to him, probably breaking his neck, then flawlessly he grabbed his energy sword and sliced the two humongous aliens, in half.

He was completely out of ammo, defeated. They kept pouring out of the trees like they were from a never ending source. They were surrounding him and he was growing tired trying to defend himself with no weapons. His shields were taking a lot of heat and everything was flashing red on his visor. One of them hit him in the side right into his supposedly broken rib, he grunted, he responded by grabbing its neck and hearing a satisfying snap. One of the brutes punched him hard on the head and he lost his balance falling backwards onto the ground. He was dizzy; as he pushed himself quickly off the ground, he snatched a grunt and smashed it hard onto a Jackal, then ran.

His legs burned and he felt like he couldn't get enough air into his lungs. He wished he was as fast as Kelly, she could outrun anything. He tripped over vines and branches as he shoved his way through the jungle, trying to stay ahead as they followed. He heard a buzzing in his ears like a pressure change and his skin began to burn. He looked around frantically trying to find what was causing the burning pain. He slowed to a jog as he entered a clearing. He saw the ghosts coming and he was about to start in a sprint, but then he stopped himself. The ghosts, grunts, jackals and every enemy on his radar froze, as if time stopped. He stood there in awe, and extremely confused. He quickly spun around trying to see what caused the sudden stillness. The enemies walked around the invisible line, not daring to cross it or touch it. He focused his eyes and noticed every second or so he saw a slight glimmer to the air –something was here.

One of the stupid grunts ignored everyone else's hollers and barking as he walked toward me. I stood there unable to move and waited to see what would happen. It walked towards me reaching its hand out as if it was trying to see something. John noticed its eyes were not on him but something in front of him, but all John saw was air.

He stood there pondering if he would seize the opportunity and run to get ahead, but he hated not knowing, he wanted to understand. The grunt unexpectedly jumped forward and in seconds there was a loud crack, as if there was a bolt of lightning, then the grunt disappeared.

John tensed, now he was afraid to move. He stood there not knowing what to do. He held his breath for what felt like hours, but nobody moved a muscle. Then a thought occurred to him,

_How could I pass without denigrating? Was that why he felt a burning sensation on his skin, was that him crossing into this barrier? What was the barrier…?_

He felt this warmth on his skin, not the burning from before he looked around once again very confused.

"You have a strong heart, child." A very familiar voice greeted him.

He spun around and held his breath, the Librarian stood in front of him. He opened his mouth, but closed it not knowing what to say.

"You are on the right path, guardian. I am here to guide you into the near future of which humanity will face its ultimate battle." She spoke softly like she had this all planned out. But he did not feel that way, instead of asking her the obvious questions of where he was, what the supposed war was, he asked her a question that has angered him for so long,

"If you knew that without evolving me so I could withstand the Composer, the Didact would have defeated me, then you knew Cortana was going to die."

She contemplated this for a moment then answered, "Yes. I knew."

He suddenly was filled with rage and he clenched his fists and every sense he was supposed to be focusing on drained from him. He wasn't used to all of this emotion, he should be finding a new objective, how to get out of here, but instead he was focusing on _her _again.

"Why didn't you save her? Why didn't you warn her so we could circumvent this issue?" He was raising his voice, something yet again like his emotions he rarely done.

"I know you are in a great deal of pain, but that was something that had to be done. You must understand…"

"That's she's dead? That's she's gone and I completely cut myself from the UNSC on a slim chance that she was alive and your here to tell me now that I was wrong?" He cut her off.

Instead of answering his question she continued, "You must understand that _Cortana_ is the center of this whole situation, she is the thin line between humanity surviving and its extinction." She paused letting him absorb the new information.

He couldn't find words to respond to her, instead his posture relaxed and he just stared at her.

"She is suffering and she is not going to last much longer." She stopped again down.

His relaxed posture didn't last long and he tensed at the words and questions spilled from his mouth, breaking the silence.

"She's _suffering_? Who is hurting her? Where are they? What do they want from her?" The Librarian raised her hand and began to speak.

"I am running out of time to explain, but I will tell you this. She is alive, she is fighting, and she holds the key to the evolution of the _galaxy, _a key even the Forerunners have not yet attained completely. I am here to get you on the right path, because you _Guardian _are the only person who can protect her, and humanity." She spoke calmly but stress filled her tired features.

This was a lot to take in, he had so many questions. But now he had an objective and the questions had to wait, Cortana needed him. After her sacrifice he wasn't going to let her suffer any longer.

"I must warn you, this mission will be like no other and you will face great depths of pain. If you're too late, you cannot save her, if she is gone, you must finish it." She spoke sternly.

"What do you mean finish it?" Uneasiness filled his voice, and once again the emotions flooded him.

"Even with my assistance it may be too late. They are planning to use her as weapon to defeat humanity; they will rip whatever form of her you knew before. If she has reached that point, you have to kill her." Her voice cut through him like knives.

Before he could protest or ask more questions she spoke quickly.

"We need to go; do you accept the circumstances of the mission?" She rushed the words.

"Whatever it takes." He nodded.

"Let us begin." She placed her hand on the shoulder plate of his armor, closed her eyes, and they disappeared.

oOoOoO

"Are you ready to begin Cortana?" He spoke as he wrote stuff on his clipboard.

"Can you at least tell me the purpose of all these tests?" She rolled her eyes.

"We are seeing how much you can handle in your new state, we are testing everything…Including your emotions. Now shut up and get on the platform. "She shoved her forward and hurried off into the glass room. She heard the door lock with a click and suddenly all the bitterness she held moments ago switched to fear.

_Why would he lock the door, surly he's not afraid of her…?_

She swallowed and took a deep breath; this was no time for fear. She had to survive – Whatever it takes.

Laser beams formed around her tracing the room with a sharp light, suddenly a Hunter appeared beside her.

_She's going to die._

It pounced at her at once and she sprinted to the other end of the room.

"Is this the physical or the emotional test?" She screamed at the doctor, through the glass.

She scanned the room and noticed she was given no weapons.

"No weapons? How good do you think I am?" She screamed once again and dodged the Hunter who was firing its overpowered weapons.

Finally after what felt like hours his voice broke over the intercom, she thought she heard him grunt annoyed.

"I thought you were smarter than this, _think _Cortana _think." _He spoke sternly.

The Hunter charged toward her and she barely dodged the loud blast of its fuel rod. The beam skimmed her right shoulder tearing the suits fabric and blood took its place. She clenched her teeth and tightened her fists, but she didn't cry – they did not deserve the satisfaction. She closed her eyes tightly, pushing her mind through to her processors straining her way into the system;

_[Mgalekgolo are the strongest and most resilient species in the Covenant.A Mgalekgolo usually stands between twelve to thirteen feet tall, but crouches to between eight to eight-and-one-half feet when in its combat state to protect its unarmored stomach and neck. A Mgalekgolo can become larger than even a standard Covenant Wraith.]_

That wasn't going to help her, she had to keep trying. Suddenly she found her way in and broke through the inflexible walls of the system, she felt the power drain into her, she felt strong, and she felt unbeatable. He eye's snapped opened, the purple in her eyes drained away and was overpowered with blue. The faint lines of light blue under her skin glowed through her, ten times stronger than they were before. She took a deep breath in then screamed out releasing the energy she detained moments ago, causing a loud bang and an energy force that rushed through the room, knocking the doctor over. The Hunter flashed and broke into millions of pieces like stars in a sky. The pieces floated around her glowing body, the florescent lights in the room turned off and on finally shattering like the Hunter.

Just as her power came, it left. Suddenly she felt the sensations around her; the pain in her shoulder, the floor beneath her feet, and a sharp stab in her head. She reached up and grabbed her head falling to the floor. The room filled with darkness, and emergency lights flickered in its place.

"That was outstanding!" The doctor hurried out of his glass room and rushed over to her. He leaned over and grabbed her shoulders and shook her as if she missed the whole thing.

"Your bio readings went off the charts, power waves only possible by some of the largest machines! How did you access all the power from the system when you're even in your premature stages of your new processors? It doesn't matter, I need to run tests now…" He looked down at her as if he was a little kid and received a gift. It disgusted her. In the midst of his rambling he paused and looked up at the shadow above her.

The Didact stood there and before she could even tilt her head to meet his face he flung her against the wall and in 2 easy strides caught her by pinning her against the wall.

She couldn't even look at him, his face was hideous and he smelled disgustingly of rotting flesh. He smiled at her flashing his yellow pointed teeth.

"You hold great power, and I intend of using all of it. Enjoy the control while you can, soon I will control you and your power, and the Guardian will be dead." His smile grew and he dropped her to the floor.

_What has she done? What does he mean? What is he planning?_

She crawled her way away from the wall, she was coughing and dry heaving since there was nothing in her stomach. He arms shook as she stood up; the pain in her shoulder grew. The doctor was hastily writing information down switching from panel to panel. The Didact walked away towards another door that appeared before him.

"Don't give all your faith to the Guardian Cortana, hope isn't going to save you." He and the doctor rushed out of the door leaving her with her thoughts and the glowing red of the emergency lights.

It suddenly occurred to her who the Guardian was,

John.

**Hey everyone! Okay I am going to start by saying I am SO sorry for not updating. I have been extremely busy and have had no time to write! I also wanted to thank JustNightCrawling for pieces of the battle scenes with Chief, I will collaborating with him more in the future! For those of you who also don't know Halo 5 has finally been announced its actual title by 343 Industries "Halo 5 Guardians". Also it is 99% confirmed it will be releasing in fall of 2015. Please review and give me your negative or positive feedback. I know I have a lot of grammar issues which I will soon be addressing. **


	11. Reclamation

John felt as if his whole body melted, his knees felt weak and the only thing holding him together was the metal hardware around him. Usually teleporting was an onerous process but this was different, and he was glad to be off that planet. His eye's came into focus, and he shifted to catch his balance. The Librarian was already ahead of him in a hurry and it only took 3 easy strides to catch up to her.

He turned to face her and winced at the pain in his side from the crash, which brought up the next question.

"Did you know I was going to crash?" He mumbled.

"Yes, but I didn't know I'd have to send that many to bring you down." She reached a panel and began typing at too fast a speed for him to understand.

"You sent them?" Surprise filled his voice.

"Yes, I had to get you to the barrier. Once you reached the planet I guided you there." She glanced at him and continued working.

"Why the barrier, couldn't you have reached me in the ship?" He felt a moment of annoyance he could still have a Pelican with supplies and ammo.

"I was in a protected force field; if I left it would've collapsed leaving me _and _you venerable." She didn't look up his time.

He looked around the room and felt himself drawn to the detail, he knew this place.

"The Ark?" He said in awe as he looked around. This time she turned completely and meet his wondering eye's through his orange visor.

"A piece of it, we are underground, buried beneath miles of debris and sand." She paused for a moment, testing his reaction.

"But the premature firing should have…" She cut him off.

"There are many things in this galaxy that I do not know, they are meant to be untouched and found by another. You must understand that time is an illusion, created by the naked eye, something to create and build off of when really; it is too complex for even the most inquisitive minds. Your task is not a mission, nor an objective. This is destiny that you must face whatever the consequences. You are no longer military hardware to the UNSC or humanity; you are the Guardian of humanity." She stopped for a moment letting it sink in then quickly snapped her head to the right and practically through herself towards the panel, panic crossing her features.

"There is no more time, you need to go. You must discover the answers to your questions on your own." She gestured toward a panel to the left of them for him to walk on.

He had so many questions, he wanted to ask her everything, and hated so little information. Before she teleported him he asked one more question.

"Where is she?" He spoke quickly.

"Follow the voices." Her voice faded and his view of her vanished as he headed to an unknown location, with humanities fate resting on his shoulders.

oOoOoO

Cortana rested corporately on the table as the doctor patched her now infected shoulder. Of course, she was strapped down so being uncooperative was not really an option.

"I still don't know how you did it." He spoke excitedly as he rapped the bandages around her shoulder.

"I'm so glad you _finally _impressed the Didact with your little experiment." She spat the words in his face, the typical tone of their conversations.

"Stop being selfish, you hold a vast amount of power and you're taking it for granted." He turned around and reached for more tools off of the sterile medical tray. She wanted to rip his throat out and send powerful energy waves through him so he and the Didact would die a slow painful death.

But she couldn't do that.

"What, am I so amazing that I don't have to do anymore tests and you give me full access to my processors?" She spoke halfheartedly.

"You are going through a mental test today, to see….what you can truly handle" He smiled at her as he stood up leaving her strapped on the metal table.

She didn't like the sound of that, her body tensed at the hard reality. She closed her eyes and let fear seep through her body; she let her adrenaline spike and her mind calculate the worst outcomes of the situation. She felt fear, she was scared and she needed to be free. She pushed her way through the system, letting her mind shove and gather all the information. She felt her heart race and the information seep into her veins. The light blue processors beneath her glowed and she felt the power once again. He eyes were a bright unnatural blue and she yanked her way free from the straps. She felt as if she could only partially control herself but she didn't care. She ignored the pain in her head and pressed forward. The doctor stumbled backward fear consumed his face as he rushed away from her. She released the energy no longer being able to contain it and bright blue light consumed the room, pushing away the darkness. Everything slowed down, she watched in slow motion the doctor flying across the room slamming into the metal wall.

Everything around her shimmered and the walls turned transparent that was foggy like water. She saw patterns and images traced into the wall like codes and symbols. She captured all of it and it was breath taking. She could see beyond the walls and saw layers of minerals. She saw past the layers of earth and saw the stars, something she hasn't seen in a while. With a flash everything was sucked back in, the light rushed toward her. Everything was back in its natural state and she was on her knees, gasping for air.

Instead of standing up and taking advantage of her freedom she felt weak as if she was made of water. She collapsed forward and let her body press against the metal floor. The doctor stood up with amazement and stumbled forward toward her. He grabbed his glass and placed them back on the bridge of his nose and knelt beside her. He examined her, picking up her arms and taking notes, moving her aside. She didn't even care, she felt paralyzed.

"It all makes sense now!" He threw his hands up in the air.

"Glad you figured it out." Her voice was scratchy as she spoke the words. She coughed and sat up, but the doctor quickly grabbed straps and tied her hands behind her back.

"You have enough power to access all of the forerunners bio-readings and information. Similar to the Janus Key, you can consume all the information and transfer it into shockwave energy. Releasing it causing an eruption in the entire system, but you can only do this when you are scared or you hold fear." He was looking off into the distance as if he was reading something from the air.

She just nodded and immersed what he was telling her, unable to comprehend everything. She glanced at the doctor who looked dazed as if he was in another universe, she only wished he was.

"If the Forerunners controlled that power, they wouldn't hold the mantel they would _own_ it." He shook his head unable to believe it himself. She suddenly came to a realization.

"You don't understand do you?" She looked straight ahead as she spoke not meeting his eyes.

"What do you mean?" His head snapped toward her.

"Wake up! Wake up from whatever reality the Didact has placed you in, whatever he has told you to keep you from leaving and going against him!" She screamed at him, letting her angry release at him.

"I don't understand…" She cut him off.

"If the Forerunners controlled that power humanity would be wiped out completely, including you! Don't you get it? This entire plan is to destroy humanity and control every other living thing in the galaxy. If the Didact gets his hands on this he will be consumed with power breaking him from whatever common sense he has left!" She choked the last words.

They sat there in silence, she studied the doctor and for the first time he looked betrayed and guilty, as if this whole time he had been brainwashed and until this moment he finally realized what he has been truly doing.

"The reclamation has already begun, and we are hopeless to stop it." She whispered breaking the silence.

**Alright guys, short chapter! Hopefully I will be updating more frequently. Sorry for the spelling errors, I will soon be doing a big update to all the chapters and fixing everything I have messed up on. Please review and give me your thoughts. Thanks to all of you who have stuck with the story I really appreciate it! If you have any ideas or changes you want to help me with or make, please don't hesitate to PM me! Thanks! **


	12. Eventuality

**A/N: If you haven't read chapter 6 in a while, I highly recommend re-reading or skimming it so this chapter makes sense! Enjoy!**

The doctor had left Cortana in peace; surprisingly he left without a word. Cortana sat there staring at the ceiling trying to image the stars she saw minutes ago. A single tear drifted down her scared cheek and hit the cold lifeless floor. She closed her eyes and wished for it all to go away, she didn't want this power she would trade it all away just to be free. For the first time in days she actually felt the smallest moment of peace, being alone in a room with no chains or straps. Of course, that didn't last long.

The doctor walked in with his usual cold expression and knelt beside her. Cortana was surprised to see he had no clipboard or plastic restrains that made her skin raw. Instead he just looked at her, Cortana noted he was tense and looked like he was about to speak something he might regret. They sat there in silence when finally the doctor spoke.

"I haven't seen the outside for six months now." He said sadly. She didn't respond and allowed him to keep talking.

"I was on a high level mission, to gather DNA samples for the UNSC. I was captured by the guards and brought to the Didact. In exchange for my life I would work for him, but I didn't want to. I was locked up in a small cell for day's maybe weeks, I attempted suicide three times." He choked the last words and took a deep breath then continued,

"I didn't want to work for him especially when I was given my experiment, you." She was shocked by his words and for the first time looked at him.

"I knew who you were right away, everyone knew who you were." He sighed.

"How did you know who I was?" Her voice was merely a whisper.

"The moment Master Chief stepped off the extraction team's ship, we knew something was wrong. Word spread quickly and days later I was sent on the mission with other Spartans and ODST's request of OIN." He took a deep breath and looked over to see her reaction.

"There were others?" She spoke sadly as the reality came to her in waves.

"The mission commander Chris Walker and a Spartan IV Kelly Jones escaped successfully with the samples. ODST Jenna Carlton and Mathew Turner were killed, and Spartan Ryan Miller and I were captured." He looked away, his eyes glazed over.

"Your Troy Taylor." She added.

"How did you know?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I still have bits and pieces of UNSC files in my memories, plus I've been in the lab more than anyone. I now recognize your face since you have been in the UNSC lab for 11 years.

"Yes…" He nodded slowly.

"You were sent there for samples? What did ION want?" Her voice held a bitter edge four people were victims of this and surely ION wouldn't send them on a suicide mission, would they?

"There were sightings of Prometheans that had different bio readings." He stopped and looked at her to see if she was catching on.

It finally occurred to her that the different bio readings were caused by her DNA.

"You mean the Didact…" He finished the sentence for her.

"The Didact had you captive before I was captured. He already had your DNA and injected it into others. This is what caused them to have their blue appearance." He pinched the bridge of his nose, his face filled with frustration.

The thought of the Didact having her unconscious body without her knowing it made her feel weak.

"That means the samples are back on Infinity in the labs, the samples contain my DNA. Why didn't the system pick up on that and match it to my files?" She was trying to pair all the pieces together.

"I don't know who would have tested them?" He glanced at her with a perplex look on his face.

"Dr. Halsey." She whispered. He looked at her surprised.

"Wouldn't she of all people pick up on it?" He said annoyed.

"Maybe someone didn't want her to…" Her voice trailed off with the thought.

"It doesn't make sense." He clenched his fists together.

"Why didn't they send an extraction team after you?" Cortana shifted her weight onto the wall beside her, she felt as if she was going to fall over.

"To high risk…" He spoke the words as if the thought has never occurred to him.

"But if it was this dangerous, if it was this high ranked, why didn't ION take action on it…" She looked up at the ceiling as if the answers would appear above her.

"I don't know." He looked down.

"Someone on the inside." She stood up quickly.

"What…?" She cut him off.

"Someone is on the inside, controlling the whole situation. Someone is plotting everything so that the samples wouldn't be tested. So myself or this place wouldn't be found – someone who had the power to cover it up under the UNSC's millions of files." She stood up and started pacing, her mind processing the new information.

"Who would have…?" His face was deep with betrayal.

Cortana's eyes flashed open, they had forgotten someone.

"You said Ryan Miller was captured, like you." She turned toward him.

His face fell and he looked around the room as if hoping to see him.

"I…I Don't know what happened to him. I was locked up, we were separated." He stuttered the words.

"Ryan Miller, is a traitor." Her words sounded like knives.

"No…He…" The doctor stumbled backwards against the wall as if he was going to faint.

"He…" The doctor repeated again.

"He is what?" Cortana walked up to him and shook his shoulders.

"He's my son." Cortana released his shoulders and stepped back as the doctor slid to the floor.

"Was that the leverage the Didact had on you this entire time?" She spoke softly.

The doctor nodded and placed his head in his hands. The door opened harshly and a dark shadow stood in its frame. The Didact walked in and with a flick of his wrist pinned the doctor against the wall. The doctor thrashed against his grasp, he was suffocating.

"I see you finally figured it out." He sounded annoyed.

"Let go of him!" Cortana flung herself at the Didact but the Didact used his other hand and sent her flying across the room in the opposite direction.

Her vision was unclear as she tried to stand up and walk toward the doctor. But she stumbled and fell forward landing on her elbows. The Didact turned so the doctor dangled in front of her; he reached for a device she knew well.

"No!" She screamed as she reached toward the doctor but it was too late. The Didact activated the energy sword and with one easy move the energy sword pierced through his chest. Blood tricked from his body onto her. She continued to scream; she was horrified and couldn't move. The Didact dropped the now limp body next to her and looked down meeting her bloodshot eyes.

"That was your mental test." He turned around and with 4 strides was out the door in seconds.

She laid there with her head facing away from the blood pool and Dr. Taylors body until she finally fell unconscious.

oOoOoO

Chief waited a few moments for his vision to fully clear after being teleported from the Librarian to his now once again unknown location. He naturally scanned the area and reached for his weapons. Which he noted the Librarian must of accustomed him with considering he was out of ammo before. He looked around; the ground covered in miles of sand, broken pieces of Forerunner tech scattered around and old ruins of buildings barely standing. The most educated guess was to say he was on the Ark, but unlike before he didn't feel alone. He walked around studying the buildings, but found nothing interesting, nothing that helped him. Why would the Librarian send him here of all places?

Suddenly he heard a faint noise of metal on metal. He turned in the direction but saw nothing. This time he heard the sound of cloth from behind him and he turned around pointing his Assault Rifle to the noise. Still nothing he looked up and searched the 'used to be' buildings. Unexpectedly he heard a much louder noise directly behind him; he spun around pointing his Assault Rifle directly in the face of the person who he was hearing.

The person was wearing a very new version of Spartan armor, his visor glowed a bright blue, almost unnaturally. His hands were collapsed behind his back as if the gun in his face wasn't even there.

"Hello Master Chief, I am Ryan Miller."

**Hey guys! I hope you guys like where the story is heading! This is defiantly a ground breaker in the story, you guys were just thrown a lot of information! If you want a visual image of Ryan Miller then please look up the Halo 5 concept art that was released only days ago. It ironically fell nicely in line with my story, especially the legitimate blue visor. Thank you for reading this far, please review (negative or positive) or send me a PM with your thoughts! I may not be able to post a new chapter until Wednesday. Thanks Again!**


	13. Luck

He only trusted a handful of people; Johnson, Cortana, Miranda, Commander Lasky, Arbiter and a few of his old friends like Kelly and Fred. Other than the small list forming in his head he already felt an unpleasant distrust against the supposed "Ryan Miller". Normally, Cortana would say a witty comment in his internal speakers to pull off the depression that was sinking on his chest. But she didn't, she wasn't there. This pulled his thoughts to Johnson, the way he fell on the floor holding Cortana's chip in his hand.

"Never let her go Chief, don't _ever _let her go." It was his last words before he inhaled his last breathe of the smoke filled air.

But he did fail Johnson, he had let Cortana go and the whole time she was trying to tell him that she was slowly dying and she was painfully pulling herself together long enough to return to earth, when really the un-needed side missions of the stubborn UNSC got in the way. He had always put the UNSC first before anyone else, even before his most trusted companions. They just sent him away like that, like he never even mattered when really his success was at the cost of the people he cared about most. Yet he still lived, playing their lives like coins in a gambling process and yet _he _was still alive. Now he was stranded here in the middle of nowhere with little previsions and all while talking to a guy named "Ryan Miller" with a bright blue visor that painfully reminded him of her.

The orange visor masked his expression, while the armor was the only thing that kept him standing against the pressure of the emotional thoughts that he was not used to. Of course throughout the entire process he held his stance, his assault rifle steady and asked the most obvious question that managed to reach the front of his thoughts.

"Who are you?" He kept the assault rifle pointed in his direction.

"I already told you…" He cut him off before he could finish.

"_What _are you, _who _sent you?" Annoyance filled his voice.

"I was sent from ONI." She said quickly.

"Look, if it's about the hacked files…" He stopped himself quickly.

"Files…?" He raised an eyebrow.

_Damit._

"How did you find me?" He shifted his stance slightly.

"For someone that stayed under the radar for 4 years, you sure are easy to track." He said bored as he took a step closer to him, practically matching his height. He noticed he had a new Spartan armor, something that he had never seen before. But still, the blue visor made him feel unsettled.

"That's not possible." Now he was angry, he had no tracking devices on him or on any of his weapons. Not even the best ONI officer, person, whatever could find him.

Meaning he wasn't ONI. As if reading his thoughts, he responded.

"This isn't a normal day, Master Chief. Nothing is normal now; you are simply denying the trust of discovering un-normality." He took out his weapons and dropped them at his feet before continuing.

"You need me more then you realize because I am the map to your thoughts…" He paused waiting for his reaction.

_He realized he wanted to punch him in the face. _

"Let me cut to the chase." He spun around and in 3 easy strides meant chief visor to visor.

"I know where she is."

OoOoOo

Cortana woke up with the usual headache and painful joins. But this time, the memories of the doctor's limb body flooded her mind and she opted to just lay there and pretend she was still knocked out.

That never worked.

The door flung open with a loud smash, and she didn't even bother to look up. She was dragged out of the room, down the hall way and into another room all while keeping her eyes shut tightly and pretended that maybe if she opened them she wouldn't be here.

That wasn't true.

She was picked up and placed on a metal table, strapped down and venerable. All while still keeping her eyes closed. Maybe when she opens her eyes she would wake up from this horrible and not exist.

That isn't real.

Eventually she opened her eyes and noticed needles were injected in her, again and again. Taking her DNA and possibly copying it to make this nightmare real forever, for everyone.

She didn't care.

Of course, that wasn't the truth. Deep down she did care, she wanted to survive, she wanted to go home and warn the UNSC of this horrible forthcoming possibility. But she couldn't…Or could she? She wanted to try and access her locked away "powers" but she was too weak, and the unknown medication that she couldn't even identify was making her drowsy. She never believed in faith, but she did believe in luck. Maybe, someone or something was coming for her, because deep down she knows there is no way she can get out herself. She was running out of time before his plan takes effect. She needs help before her body becomes a robot that will be controlled by a psychopath. Before she explodes like a bomb hurting everyone in her reach.

She needs luck.

**Hey everyone! Short chapter (SUPER BUSY) I hope your liking the story so far, soon I will be getting into the more intense scenes. I know there isn't really a lot of fighting, but I am adjusting and setting the characters correctly before we reach the more important pieces of the story. Thanks for everyone who has stayed with me so far, you guys rock! I am aware of my MANY spelling errors in my most current chapters. I need to stop typing up stories at 1 am when I literally jump out of bed with a new idea! One last thing – If you haven't already defiantly check out the new Halo news from E3! **


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